Modern Nature

The structure and grounded scope of Modern Nature’s latest album might come as a surprise to more than a few when it hits the turntable this week. The band’s last two albums were both massive undertakings that pulled the band further from groove and towards improvisational reflections of nature. Island of Noise began a process of amassing of players, what would be dubbed imaginative interpreters over time, with Cooper leading an ensemble that included Alison Cotton and Evan Parker alongside a few regular collaborators. It’s follow up brought in Anton Lukoszevieze, Mira Benjamin and Heather Roche of Apartment House, Alex Ward (This Is Not This Heat/Spiritualized), Dominic Lash, Chris Abrahams of The Necks, Julie Tippetts (FKA Julie Driscoll) to collaborate with band regulars Jeff Tobias (Sunwatchers) and Jim Wallis. The band became more studio construction, an orchestra that etched the thrums of the Earth into tape.

By the end of the process, though, Cooper had finished a cycle and swung back. That’s where we’re found in the opening moments of The Heat Warps. The idea of a band as a more compact unit comes back into view. The ensemble is jettisoned in favor of a quartet that includes Tobias, Wallis, Cooper and new member Tara Cunningham. The addition of Cunningham shifts the focus to that of twined guitars. Taking an admitted inspiration from early Television demos with Brian Eno, the record focuses in on loping grooves and playful shadows of melody. The record reflects fragments of the earliest albums’ propulsion and the latter works’ natural feel, but at the heart this is something new for the band. Jim and Jeff anchor the record, a rhythmic thrum that beats it’s tattoo with unflinching ease. Cooper and Cunningham then let their strings tug at phrases that tease close to pop, far closer than the band has in years. The tension pushes and pulls at the listener, tying them up in the stringwork while distracting from the constricting grip with hypnotic harmonies. The last two albums teased the band furthering into the wilds, but it’s a wonderful surprise to be tied up in the tendrils of The Heat Warps, among the band’s best for sure.

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